Daily Dothttp://www.dailydot.com/Daily Dot Articleen-usThu, 20 Sep 2012 14:44:50 +0000Man arrested over Facebook tribute to suspected cop killerhttp://www.dailydot.com/news/facebook-tribute-cop-killer-arrest/<p><img src='//cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/eb/f9/ebf9fee8c920b3a572dfa41fb86aa0d2.jpg'></p><p>
Greater Manchester Police said Thursday they arrested a 22-year-old Liverpool man who has a connection with Facebook pages that praised Dale Cregan, a man police have in custody on suspicion of <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dale-cregan-female-police-officers-1330199">killing two young policewomen</a> in a brutal attack.</p>
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The <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2205209/Manchester-police-shootings-Trolls-vile-messages-following-death-Fiona-Bone-Nicola-Hughes.html">Facebook pages</a> labeled Cregan as a &ldquo;legend&rdquo; while some users on the page called him as &ldquo;Sir Dale.&rdquo; Another page, called &ldquo;Sir Dale Cregan is a Hero and a Legend,&rdquo; also appeared on the social networking site. Comments on those pages referred to the fallen cops as &ldquo;scumbags.&rdquo;</p>
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A <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/sep/20/police-killings-arrest-cregan-facebook">statement</a> released by the police department called the comments &ldquo;malicious&rdquo; and &ldquo;upsetting,&rdquo; adding that it took the comments very seriously. A Facebook spokesperson <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2205209/Manchester-police-shootings-Trolls-vile-messages-following-death-Fiona-Bone-Nicola-Hughes.html">told</a> the Daily Mail that the pages have been pulled as they violated the service&rsquo;s rules.</p>
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The unidentified man was arrested under the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/21/contents">Communications Act of 2003</a> which makes it an offense to post &ldquo;grossly offensive&rdquo; comments on a public website.</p>
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However, online support for the police officers and department has been overwhelmingly positive. A picture of the police officers posted by the Greater Manchester Police has <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=392825744120784&amp;set=a.229258947144132.55414.166857596717601&amp;type=1">garnered</a> 117,000 likes and 22,000 comments with people posting their remembrances.</p>
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<em>Photo via Greater Manchester Police/<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=392825744120784&amp;set=a.229258947144132.55414.166857596717601&amp;type=1&amp;theater">Facebook</a></em></p>
jordan@dailydot.com (Jordan Valinsky)Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:44:50 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/news/facebook-tribute-cop-killer-arrest/NewsFacebook